A Gridlock that Costs the Nations Progress Essay

A Gridlock that Costs the Nations Progress - Essay Example Tom Udall of New Mexico in terms of the gridlock in the US Senate. It exposes how things do not get done because of each party’s blocking the other from getting their points across and delaying decisions altogether. The congress has become so impersonal due to conflicts between the Democrats and the Republicans, to let it affect their efficiency in deliberating over the necessary legislations. It was a revelation to George Packer to see an empty chamber while a senator delivers a speech in congress with only the presiding officer present, and probably the next senator scheduled to give a speech, and cameras all around to capture the speech. Packer expected a chamber-full of senators and congressmen as he imagined it while watching speeches on C-span, but he was disappointed to know that in reality, it was only for the sake of the cameras. Packer remembered how the congress was in its so-called â€Å"golden age† from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. He idolized Eu gene McCarthy and how charismatic he was in his talks in front of the people in various locations. As a young boy, he already observed how politicians worked together. Men like Humphrey, Baker, Church, Javitz and McGovern were perceived to be serious thinkers, fully dedicated to serve the country with their positions in Congress. Aside from regularly huddling together to discuss solutions to the country’s problems, they collaborated on doing real action instead of ruling from their â€Å"ivory towers†.

Uni 220 Syllabus Essay Example for Free

Uni 220 Syllabus Essay UNI220: Academic Refresher is a one-credit hour course designed to assist students in creating strategies for success in their academic lives. The unique course employs dynamic in-class activities, collaborative learning, supplemental instruction (SI), and journal writing which requires consistent re? ection and participation. The course is taught from an â€Å"organic perspective,† which is student/content centered. Students are the most important contributors to the educational environment. To enable the students and the instructor to have frequent and meaningful interaction with each other and with the group, class size is limited to 20 students per section. You will receive a letter grade for UNI 220, but no +/- will be granted JAMES LEWIS: E-mail: James. Lewis. [emailprotected] edu O? ce: UASB 127A O? ce Hours: Blackboard REQUIRED MATERIAL: †¢ eBook: †¢ Downing, Skip. On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life. 6th Ed. Boston: Houghton Mi? in Company, 2011. †¢ IMPORTANT: The textbook required for this class is o? ered as a rentable eBook from www.CengageBrain. com. The On Course eBook includes features like highlighting, note taking, searching, printing, and mobile access. To purchase or rent the book: †¢ A. Copy and paste the following URL in your web browser: http://www. cengagebrain. com/shop/isbn/9781439082171 †¢ B. Make sure you are purchasing the eBook On Course (6th ed. ) written by Skip Downing. †¢ C. Add the digital eBook to your shopping cart and follow the purchase instructions. †¢ D. If you have any questions related to the eBook go to the Cengage support page: http://www. cengagebrain.com/shop/ Support. html †¢ A planner or personal calendar in paper form †¢ An ASU e-mail account and reliable internet access †¢ A 3-ring binder (1-1-1/2†) for all your course materials COURSE OBJECTIVES: Through their participation in this course, students will: †¢ Explore personal and academic strengths and barriers that impact success †¢ Identify and utilize university resources available to support success at ASU. †¢ Acquire and enhance academic skills necessary for success in the university. †¢ Discover ways to stay on course to meet academic goals. TOPICS COVERED: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Responsibility and choice/self-management Self-assessment Academic success strategies Mindset connections Procrastination Diagnosing barriers Creating networks Identifying patterns Embracing change UNI 220 Academic Refresher UNI 220: Academic Refresher ATTENDANCE: Because much of the learning in UNI 220 takes place via classroom activities and group interaction, attendance is taken at the beginning of every class and is an integral part of your UNI 220 grade. If you are not on time to class, you may be marked absent. Consistent with University standards, more than two absences may result in an ‘E’ (failing the course) on your transcript. At some point, if you choose to discontinue the course, you must drop the course o? cially. The instructor will not drop you. If your name appears on the roster at the end of the semester, but you have stopped coming to class, you will receive a grade that re? ects all missed work. STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES: †¢ Participate throughout every class meeting. †¢ Discussion is not only encouraged but necessary to facilitate a ful? lling classroom experience. Your active participation in classroom discussions is an integral part of your ? nal grade. Because engagement with campus resources is also a critical part of academics, students are able to earn up to half of their participation points (50 points) for completing one or more of the following: †¢ Attend the PASS program (10 points, freshmen only). †¢ Utilize a campus resource, provide proof of attendance, and complete the â€Å"Campus Resource Usage Form† found on the Blackboard. Examples of appropriate campus resources would be the Writing Center, tutoring, Supplemental Instruction (SI), the Financial Aid o? ce, the Career Services o? ce, etc. If you have questions about resources, please contact your instructor (10 points each). †¢ Attend meetings with the Success Team Leaders available through the Student Success Center. For more information about Success Team Leaders and/or to make an appointment, call (480) 965-9072 (5 points each). †¢ Turn in all out of class assignments at the beginning of class. †¢ No late assignments will be accepted; no exceptions. Plan ahead for last-minute emergencies, including printer and computer issues. Please note: all journal entries must be present in your ?nal portfolio in order for you to pass this course. †¢ Complete all in-class exercises in full and to the best of your ability. †¢ All activities and exercises will be graded on both e? ort and accuracy. †¢ Attend class. †¢ Notify the instructor before the class meets if you will be arriving late or leaving early, either of which may result in a deduction of points from your ? nal grade. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain any missed information, assignments and handouts from BlackBoard or from another student. †¢ Turn o? and put away all electronic devices. †¢ Unless otherwise instructed, you will not need any electronics for this course. All iPods, MP3 players, cell phones, mobile devices, and laptops should be turned o? and put away before class begins. Students who choose to use electronics during class will be asked to leave and will be marked absent for that class period. †¢ Regularly check email and Blackboard and participate fully in Facebook discussions. †¢ Please note: The syllabus and course outline are subject to change. You will need to regularly check your ASU email and/or Blackboard for updates and announcements. UNI 220: Academic Refresher. UNI 220: Academic Refresher †¢ Join the Facebook Group †¢ Students are required to join the course Facebook Group Page. †¢ It is a private group, so only members will be able to read posts and comments. †¢ Also, members of the group will not be able to see each others Facebook info, wall posts, etc. unless a â€Å"friend request† is accepted. †¢ First and foremost, this is a social space, but it’s also a great class resource. †¢ Students will often be able to answer your questions more quickly than I will, so use this group to socialize and ask general or speci? c questions relating to homework or lecture notes. †¢ Read and understand this entire syllabus. †¢ Students will be held responsible for knowing the information contained in this syllabus whether they have read it or not. FINAL LEARNING PORTFOLIO: You will keep all notes, invention work, homework, drafts, handouts, your journal, and anything else you produce for this class in a three-ring binder. This binder, along with a re? ective essay, will help demonstrate your understanding of the material, ability to apply material, and active engagement in your own learning process. Keep everything you produce throughout the semester for this course. JOURNAL GUIDELINES: †¢ All entries must be submitted on Blackboard †¢ Answer all questions/prompts thoroughly and thoughtfully. †¢ Copy the directions (the bold part) for each journal prompt. †¢ Be honest with yourself †¢ Be spontaneous and creative †¢ Most importantly, DIG DEEP and expand on your ideas †¢ Entries must be turned in on time for credit †¢ In order to pass this class, you must have all journal entries completed and printed for your portfolio on the day it is due__________. ASSIGNED WORK OUTSIDE OF CLASS: Additional work will be required outside of class. These assignments are due at the beginning of the assigned due date, no exceptions. Please plan ahead for any last minute emergencies (i. e. printer and computer issues). Late work will not be accepted, no exceptions. DISCUSSION/DEBATE GUIDELINES: Throughout the semester we will be discussing sensitive and controversial issues. Our discussions and debates will be conducted in a polite, civil, and respectful manner. While it is ? ne to disagree, do so in a respectful, polite manner. Any perceived attacks will not be tolerated. Failure to abide by these policies will result in a severe loss of points and a possible  withdrawal from the course. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS: If you need academic accommodations or special consideration of any kind to get the most out of this class, please let me know at the beginning of the course. If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for equal access to education at ASU, please call Disability Resources for Students. The Disability Resource Center (DRC) is located in Matthews Center at the Tempe campus. Phone : (480) 9651234 or TDD : (480) 965-9000 E-mail : [emailprotected] edu. UNI 220: Academic Refresher UNI 220: Academic Refresher ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: You are expected to uphold the principles of academic integrity in all the work you do in this course. Students who engage in academic dishonesty (i. e. cheating, plagiarism, etc. ) will be withdrawn from the course and receive a failing grade. Plagiarism (the use of other peoples ideas or words without attribution) whether intentional or not, is immediate grounds for failure. Academic integrity is expected of every individual in the University. Students are responsible for all policies included in the college and student handbook, as well as this syllabus. See http://www. asu.edu/vpsa/studentlife/ for more information. Academic Integrity – It Matters! GRADING PROCEDURE: STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES Participation Quizzes, Homework Journal Group Project Portfolio TOTAL PERCENT PERCENT 20% 15% 20% 25% 20% 100% 90-100 80-89. 99 70-79. 99 60-69. 99 0-59. 99 = = = = = A B C D F NOTE: IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO CHANGE ALL OR PART OF THIS SYLLABUS DURING THE COURSE OF THE SEMESTER. If one advances con? dently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to the live the life of which he imagines, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. Henry David Thoreau UNI 220: Academic Refresher.

Economic Social Cultural Environmental And Political Impacts Tourism Essay

Economic Social Cultural Environmental And Political Impacts Tourism Essay Undeniably, events are significant motivators of tourism and their impacts play a crucial part for destination competitiveness, especially when having to deal with unique planned events (Getz, 2008). It must be said that tourism is one of the most prosperous industries, which evolved especially over the last 50 years. It can be defined as a human activity that includes human behaviour, use of resources, communication with other people, economies and environments. It also includes physical movement of tourists to locations, which are not their permanent living houses (Bull, 1995). There are a lot of components of the tourism industry that can add to a countrys value and mega events are one of them. An exact explanation of the term mega event does not exist, however they can be defined as short-term tourism events of a large scale aiming to create new or even renew investment in host cities, thus projecting a positive image of the city (Greene, 2003). Furthermore, mega events can be described as global events and the requirement for a specific city to host such an event is to bid to win it (Getz, 2008). They are usually managed by national governments and international non-governmental institutions and can be classified as significant components in reports of cultural behaviour (Roche, 2000). There are a lot of aspects of impacts resulting from mega events and some of them can be economic, social, environmental, cultural and political. All these can emerge prior to the event, during the event or even after the event, and they can be either or both positive and negative impacts, operating both in the short-run and long-run, that will be beneficial to a tourism destination or act as a threat to it. Additionally, they can bring relatively positive economic effects as well as boost tourism from the time that the bid to host the event by a city has been won, until long time after the event (Williams and Shaw, 1998). The magnitude of th ese impacts depends mainly on the host citys management methods, especially by the government, in its effort to impose successful strategies to strengthen the positive impacts, while trying to keep the negative impacts to a minimum. Hosts mostly expect to create strong legacies that will last a lifetime, and job creation, increase in tourism figures, improvements in infrastructure, rise in the level of GDP and increased demand for commodities are included in their main expectations. Investing in sports venues, various tourism services and improving transportation might trigger economic growth, higher employment levels and renewal of the host city (Sakai, 2006). They also consider mega events as projects that give them the chance to built up a superior reputation, validated by measuring the tangible benefits and deducting the tangible costs from them(Kearney, 2005). It must be highlighted that mega events play a crucial role in promoting a tourism destination and the Olympic Games are one of the best examples of such events. Their history dates back to 776 B.C. in ancient Olympia Greece and during that short time of the event sacred truce was taking place, wars were stopped, and roads were becoming toll free, exemplifying their importance (Holloway and Taylor, 2009). I will be using Olympic Games throughout my essay to demonstrate what such an event can bring to a destination and specifically analyse the economic impacts of the Olympics on tourism destinations.http://www.twip.org/photo/europe/greece/photo-5255-08-03-06-14-31-05.jpghttp://www.flutetunes.com/img/posts/olympic-truce-emblem.jpg The Olympic Truce Emblem The Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece A closer look will be taken to the case of Sydney Summer Olympic Games 2000, where the government used a unique until then strategy undertaken by a host with a free market economy. All of these were done in its effort to enhance the positive economic impacts and reduce the negative impacts. Its initial strategy was to attract as many as possible tourists to the event and induce them to travel in other places in Australia, thus enhancing its tourism industry. The second strategy was to generate strong bonds in order to increase its ability to create tourist business and the third strategy was to make Australia a more attractive destination where three types of visitors were of high importance. These were leisure tourists, business visitors and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) visitors. It must be highlighted, that MICE visitors can bring the more money into a country while business visitors establish new business into the local economy and leisure visitors cont ribute towards the local economy by travelling around and using the local commodities. The returns from spending in business benefits were more tangible and persuasive resulting to greater planning in favour and in funding of economic effects by both federal and NSW governments as well as the Australian Tourist Commission (Cashman,2006). It is important for each Olympic Games to create something new and leave a great legacy behind them. For the case of Australia the main legacy that authorities wanted to create, was more tourists visiting the country, not only during the event but especially after it (Chalip, 2000). A huge crowd is attracted by the Olympic Games which consist of groups of people such as spectators, media representatives, members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), sponsors and athletes. Through the extensive media coverage, a host citys image may be reinforced or even altered affecting tourists image about the city (Hall, 1989) and an encouraging image of a host city might be a reason to attract both national and international tourists (McManus, 1999). About 1.6 million people were estimated to visit Australia between 1997-2004 by the Tourism Forecasting Council (Chalip, 2000) and all these tourists were expected to inject a huge amount of money for circulation into the host countrys econom y in both short-run and long-run, where most of the money would be coming from television rights, ticket sales and general use of commodities. It was also predicted that 150,000 jobs would be created through the money spent by tourists and other visitors. What is more is that people involved in the Olympics can later use their skills to enter the workforce if there are jobs places available to them, but all these depend upon the success of the event and if peoples skills are in a certain manner that can be used in the future without additional training cost needed to incur. There is evidence to prove that during Sydney 2000 Olympics US$3billion was generated in the local business sector (Kearney, 2005). It must be added that Australia was expected to gain AUS$6.5billion from the games during the period of 1994-2004. The opportunity of attracting more tourists prior, during and post the event, like in the case of Barcelona Olympic Games 1992, where tourist figures increased a lot especially after hosting the Olympics and making it an established tourist resort, enables tour operators to create more and better holiday packages that can be offered to national and especially international potential visitors and thus improving their economic wellbeing, as well as bringing more money into the local economy. Added to these, the city government of Sydney in a combination with private investment invested a huge amount of money in their effort to expand the Sydney airport, improve the citys roads and expand hotel room capacity by 25% (Chalip,2000). It can be deduced that these investments were aiming to attract more tourists, event visitors and business visitors contributing positively towards the local economy.http://www.mapsofworld.com/olympic-trivia/images/olympic-emblem/sydney2000.gifhttp://dvice.com/ pics/sydney_stadium.jpg Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Stadium Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Logo Moreover, Sydney had won 202 bids MICE by the end of 1999 and they included 251,280 delegates contributing AUS$919,649,010 to the Australian economy and thus increasing the level of its GDP. Also, sponsors use the Olympics to promote their brands thus improving their reputation while injecting money into the local economy. Most of the times the large amounts of money injected to the host countrys economy from foreign investment have impacts of millions of dollars and governments should use this money in the best way possible to benefit the economy. For example Visa spend over AUS$30million to include Sydney and pictures from the country into its advertisement campaign. Of course there are huge costs involved in order for a country to host Olympic Games and sometimes countries plan ahead before even winning the bid to host such an event. The total investment in Australia represented 0.6% of its GDP, which was a large amount of money spent for a short-term event. Even though most expenses are covered by the government and domestic as well as foreign institutions, it is inevitable that taxpayer money would be needed in order to host a costly event like the Olympics and satisfying the standards required by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (Matheson, 2006).Costs related to infrastructure, constructing stadiums and carrying out sports events are the biggest and although they are classified as costs some argue that they contribute positively towards the local economy such as by constructing stadiums jobs are created, lowering the unemployment levels, and stadiums can be used after the Olympics to host other sports or leisure events triggering som e economic growth. In the case of Barcelona 1992 Olympics significant infrastructure improvements have taken place in just 8 years time, in order to be ready at the time of the event, whereas 50 years were normally needed for sea front, sewage, telecommunication improvements and new airport construction to take place. These changes have helped Barcelona to develop and look as a more attractive tourism destination. Also, in the case of Athens 2004 Games transportation improvements to roads, metro and trains helped towards making the city more contemporary (Kearney,2005). This aspect, infrastructure, add ups to the living standards of locals as well as making the city more accessible to future tourists since they will have the chance to use pleasing transportation methods. In Australia however, some venues had to go through maintenance in order to be able to host other types of events as well which required further costs than benefits to the Australian economy and also made the venues to loose from their original identity and history. An example of such an action is the Olympic Park 2000 which has been transformed in order to host sports events and several types of fairs. Similarly, the Olympic Stadium of Beijing 2008 Olympics has been transformed in order to be more profitable. Ex-post studies have proven that there is not enough evidence that economic benefits arise from sports events to neither sports teams, nor facilities and according to Humphreys (2003, p.6) in US constructing new sports facilities failed to increase income per capita or total employment level (Owen, 2005). Even though a $5.1billion increase in NSWs GDP resulted from the Olympics, where two fifths would go towards household income Sydney turned out to face expenses. Added to these, the crowding out effect can be considered as a negative aspect of the Olympic Games that affects the local economy, including its GDP figures. The Australian government was worried that people and business would prefer other tourism and business locations and thus created the campaigns Fun and Games, meet Australia and the open for business campaign. Local people sometimes prefer to go away from their cities while events are taking place since they think that too much traffic is going to be present and it would be better for them to be away at that time thus lowering spending figures and injections of local people in the economy especially if they go on holidays to another destination. What is more is that, Olympic Games can attract more visitors to the event, like spectators of the games, people who want to explore the host country, and people who want to make business at the host city during that time but it can also prevent tourists from visiting the certain destin ation. This is due to the fact that a lot of people are going to be present at that period and they might prefer to visit if after the Olympic Games have finished, since they will have the chance to explore and enjoy more places when less people are going to be present. Sometimes these tourists never go to the country, making it loose money from the tourism industry. Additionally, hotel room prices during the Olympics tend to be higher than usual, with no major changes in their appearance and facilities that offer and reinforce the crowding out effect, this reducing spending coming from tourism, since usual customers tend to avoid visiting them during that time and reduce the net spending in the host city (Owen, 2005). The process of planning and hosting the Olympics requires a high risk and local authorities should be careful since both short-run and long-run are important. Examples such as Montreal, which hosted the 1976 Summer Olympic Games and 30 years later the initial cost of US$1.5billion has not yet been recovered, show how adverse can mega events turn out to be for a countrys economy, since that debt has to be paid off and it cuts back from investment in other sectors of the economy, such as education, healthcare and creating new venues that would attract tourists, thus creating an opportunity cost. This debt in turn affects improvements that could be made, which affect negatively the tourism industry. Another example is Greece that was the host for 2004 Summer Olympic Games and is still facing a 6% budget deficit due to the games. Also, Greece is facing the problem that sports facilities cannot be permanently used and might have to shut down and lead to no benefits towards the local commu nity (Kearney, 2005). Greece can be an example to future host countries to avoid constructing stadiums and facilities that will have no permanent use in the future as well as cannot recover their initial cost soon or even in the long-run and thus bring no financial benefits to the country. An important outcome of money injected and continuously being circulating in economies is the multiplier effect, which estimates the impact of tourism on an economy through direct, indirect and induced spending but doesnt show the income figures generated through tourism in each sector of the economy. It can create problems sometimes, since multipliers calculated using wrong methodology are of a too large scale. This arises mainly from the ignorance of opportunity costs and treatment of costs as benefits, as proven by ex-post studies mentioned before. We have gone through the emerging impacts from mega events that affect a tourism destination but what will be the impacts on London 2012 Olympic Games which have not taken place yet? It must be noted that London is one of the most successful and established business centres and hosting the Olympics will bring even more business to operate in the UK economy. Firstly, all the funding of the Olympic Games is done by both private and public organisations aiming the development of East London. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) generates most of its  £2billion budget from private sector and receives income from sales, commodities, sponsors and the IOC whereas the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) generates its income from the public sector. All the funding will be contributing positively towards building infrastructure and stadiums in the Olympic Park that can be used in the long-run for the UK communitys benefit. What is more, is that the Greater London Authority (GLA) works at its best attainable levels to bring benefits to the locals and gives  £925million to the ODA. http://www.sightseeingtours.co.uk/london-tourist-uk/london-images/london-olympics-2012.jpghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/images/2007/06/04/2012_logo_white_385x450.jpg London 2012 Olympic Games Advertisement Official London 2012 Olympic Games Logo Furthermore, the London Development Agency (LDA), controls the sustainable economic growth and makes sure that locals will benefit as much as they can from the Olympics as well as it invests  £250million towards covering the infrastructure costs and  £220million towards cleaning the Park that is managed by the ODA. Another  £2.2billion are generated by the National Lottery Funds that contribute towards the construction of the Olympic facilities, that add up to the countrys value and create strong legacies that people can benefit from even in the long-run. The entire infrastructure such as the energy centre, new roads, new bridges and the pumping station will be brand new and aim to cover the needs of the locals even in the long-run again. Since the London Olympics follow a sustainable pattern they aim to construct venues that will be used post the games as well as trying to use existing venues to make a better use of them and if venues are not going to be used after the Olympics they will be made temporary so that no unnecessary costs will incur like in previous Olympics hosts like Barcelona and Greece. The Olympic Village will be turned into homes after the Games and even more houses will be built as well as shops, cafes, restaurants to provide more services to the locals and thus creating more jobs. London has another solution to the problem of under qualified workers since it will offer job training to the locals (London 2012, 2010). To conclude, I have explained the economic impact of mega events on tourism using mainly the example of Sydney 2000 Games and showed that it is of high importance that governments should take the most beneficial strategies while hosting such events, having in mind not only the short-run but the long-run effects of their policies. Sydney 2000 Games can act as a benchmark, since they were the first hosts to take that particular approach and emphasise on business and economic benefits leaving behind them strong legacies even though not all investment was done wisely. Also, the example of London shows that previous patterns are being corrected and followed and the legacy left behind investments in infrastructure can be judged upon their success. However, it is argued that no Olympics have shown enough evidence that there are important impacts such as increases in household impact (Owen, 2005). Moreover, it would be fair to mention that social, cultural, political and environmental impacts play a crucial role on a tourism destination since by showing to tourists the legacies and unique cultures that mega events create as well as caring about the environment while carrying out such event attracts other categories of tourists as well as it creates a better place for people to visit. Word Count: 2998

Romanticism Essays -- Romantic Period Essays

Romanticism "In spite of its representation of potentially diabolical and satanic powers, its historical and geographic location and its satire on extreme Calvinism, James Hogg's Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner proves to be a novel that a dramatises a crisis of identity, a theme which is very much a Romantic concern." Discuss. Examination of Romantic texts provides us with only a limited and much debated degree of commonality. However despite the disparity of Romanticism (or Romanticisms) as a movement it would be true to say that a prevalent aspect of Romantic literature that unites many different forms of the movement, is a concern with the divided self. As the empirical Rationalism of the eighteenth century was partially subverted by the subjective metaphysical reflection in the nineteenth artists tended to examine wider issues from an introspective starting point. The idea of the divided self became a motif from Blake's "Albion" to Byron's Manfred to Keat's musings on the disassociated nature of the Poetic Self. Some writers personified this division in distinct physical manifestations, usually a hero and his inverse doppelganger. Most famously in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the various "selves" in De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater and in the complex mirroring of major characters in James Hogg's ambiguous masterpiece Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Although critics (as Andrea Henderson in Romantic Identities) have debated the extent that Romanticism dramatises divisive crises with the psychological self , the vast majority of writing on the subject agrees that "crisis of identity" is certainly a "Romantic concern". Hugo Donelley draws attention to the "Modernis... ... Doubleness of Hogg's Confessions and the Tradition", Studies in Scottish Literature, Vol. 18, pp. 59-74. Punter, D. "The dialectic of persecution" in The Literature of Terror Volume I, 1996, Longman Group (David Punter), London and New York. Simpson, L. James Hogg, a Critical Study, 1962, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. Wittig, Kurt. The Scottish Tradition in Literature, 1958, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. Wu, Duncan. "Introduction" in Romanticism: An Anthology WEBSITES. http://prometheus.cc.emory.edu/panels/4C/R.Incorvati.html Incorvati, R. "Dialogue and Marginality in James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner." Prometheus Unplugged Website. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Although Hogg was writing in a pre-Freudian era the essentials of his psychodynamic theory were as pertinent in 1834 as they were in 1934.

The Powerful Message of Jubilate Agno :: Jubilate Agno Essays

The Powerful Message of Jubilate Agno        Ã‚  Ã‚   Jubilate Agno is Christopher Smart's poem which illustrates at first glance a testament to his religious obsession and his deteriorated mental state. The other side of this poem shows a man trying to keep his sanity in an insane place. William Stead sees the work as "a spiritual diary of his thoughts, memories, and prayers, during the darkest years of his life" (Stead 17). Jubilate Agno focuses on God with daily occurrences weaving their way into the poem. Smart's work "reflects what was . . . his life work: the praise of God through poetry" (Anderson 54). Smart writes about what he knows from the Bible to animals to the alphabet; most contain God themes [?]. In his tribute to his cat, Jeoffry, Smart shows the cat's particular connection to God, and how Jeoffry is the ideal servant of God. Is an insane Smart writing about an imaginary cat's servitude to God? Or is the intellectual Smart merely paralleling human life to cat life to show how each of us can ser ve God?    Jeoffry became more than a pet to Smart in the years of his confinement. Dr. Sherbo contends that "he had a cat, a real one, not the product of his distressed imagination" (qtd. in Dearnley 155). Smart, being particularly religious, felt that his companion was a good illustration of serving God in his ways. Jeoffry is aware of God, "For he knows that God is his Saviour" (134) just as we should. Smart refers to Jeoffry working for God, "for when his day's work is done his business more properly begins. / For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary" (Smart 133). Jeoffry strives to serve God so much that after each full day of activities he can still be a servant to God. With the detailed descriptions of Jeoffry's daily routines, Smart sees the holy connection in them. "For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way. / For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness" (131). A morning stretch for a feline symbolizes a morning prayer for a person.

Drug Legalization Essay -- Drugs Argumentative Use Essays

This paper will prove that America’s drug laws are ineffective and cause more harm than good. The notion that a state of freedom exists in America is completely voided by narcotic laws. Narcotic laws cause a black market, which raises the prices of drugs to astronomical levels. These high prices cause drug addicts to turn to crime in order to support their habit. There exists substantial evidence that marijuana is less harmful than legal product like alcohol or nicotine. The war on drugs is comparable to the Vietnam War in its harm on the current generation of minorities. The government avoids ending anti-narcotic legislation because of the vast amount of capital which is spent on the war on drugs in terms of law enforcement and prison systems. Also there are many legislators whose campaign corner stones are often getting tough on drugs, to make an about face would mean political suicide. Yes, drugs are illegal. This very fact is what discourages many Americans from using drugs. However the illegality of the substances in question do not stop all people from using. Despite the severe punishment users of illicit drugs face if caught, illicit drug use is widespread in the United States. â€Å"According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's 1992 National Household Survey, more than one in three Americans (36.2%) have used illegal drugs at least once in their lifetime, nearly 28 million Americans (11.1%) used them in the previous year, and almost 14 million Americans (5.5%) used them during the past month† (Skolnick 3). This is clear evidence that the war is not working. Drug addicts will continue using drugs regardless of the penalties associated with procession, simply because they are addicted to these dangerous substances an... ...nment run store where drugs would be sold only to adults. Much the same as the way liquor is sold in many areas of the country today. Drugs would for the most part be out of the reach of children. Drugs would be relatively inexpensive, and within the reach of addicts, who would no longer have to turn to crime in order to obtain them (when was the last time you heard of someone getting mugged in order for the perpetrator to buy beer). People would be allowed to freely grow marijuana and or hemp. Treatment for addicts would be free and easily obtainable. Money would be spent on improving the conditions of schools, roads and other things that Americans really need. There would exist much the same laws for operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs as exist for operating under the influence of alcohol today. There would once again be a state of freedom in America.

Philosophy Prep Essay

1. What are the different branches of philosophy, and what are they about? 2.Explain what a fallacy is. What kind of mistake is someone making when they commit a formal fallacy in an argument? 3. What is â€Å"wisdom,† and how does philosophy relate to it? 4. Describe the nature of critical thinking. What advantage does the critical thinker have over someone who lacks that skill? 5. Describe and explain the steps in the critical-thinking process. 6. What is wrong with â€Å"relativism† as a thought process? What does the relativist need to understand? 7. What do you think you can fruitfully learn from the study of philosophy? How can you apply philosophy to your life? 8. Describe the influence of Homer on early Greek thought. How did he pave the way for philosophical thought? 9. Describe and explain the underlying philosophy of knowledge that guided Socrates’ method of knowledge. 10. Who were the sophists, and why did they oppose Socrates? 11. Explain why Socrates was arrested. How did he respond to the charges against him? 12. Explain Plato’s view of the soul. Why did he liken it to a chariot? 13. What was Descartes’ conclusion about the nature of the self, and how did he arrive at that conclusion? 14. How did John Locke’s views differ from those of Descartes? How did that determine Locke’s views of the self? 15. What was Hume’s argument for the position that there is no such thing as the self? 16. What was distinctive about Kant’s view of the nature of self as related to experience? 17. What was Ryle’s view of the mental as it relates to the physical? How did Ryle’s view differ from those before him? 18. What are the two forms of physicalism? How do they differ from each other? 19. What is determinism? How is it different from the thesis that there is no free will? 20. What is hard determinism, and how is it argued for? 21. What did Baron D’Holbach mean by saying that â€Å"Absence of constraint is not absence of necessity†? 22. Explain the distinction that was made by W.T. Stace in arguing for the compatibility of free will with determinism. 23.What did Moritz Schlick mean by saying â€Å"If decisions were causeless there would be no sense in trying to influence men†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . What role did this thought have in his theory of free will? 24. What is existentialism? Explain Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist position on the nature of free actions. 25. Give some examples of questions that are asked in metaphysics. Which one(s) do you think are best indicative of the subject matter of metaphysics? Explain. 26. Describe the subject matter of epistemology, and explain what questions in epistemology you think are worth pursuing. 27. Describe Plato’s doctrine of the Forms. What questions was it meant to answer? 28. Describe Plato’s hierarchical metaphysics, explaining the relationships between the levels. 29. Explain and contrast the theories of knowledge of rationalism and empiricism. 30. How did Descartes go out about pursuing only knowledge that could be absolutely certain? What did he find?